Yesterday we introduced you to gay Senatorial candidate Jim Neal, pictured above with one of his two sons.

The conversation continues today with our editor getting into the nitty-gritty of Neal's current campaign.

Andrew Belonsky: What made you stop volunteering for or fundraising for campaigns, as you did for Kerry, and actually launch your own?

Jim Neal: Well, I've always wanted to do it. I was a little kid and wanted to be president. I don't want to be president right now, but I have always contemplated running for federal office. I think there were two things that prevented me from moving on it. One was that when I did come out in my early-30's, I thought, "Okay, that's it. A gay person can't run for public office. It's off the table". The times changed and that was no longer necessarily the prevailing wisdom, but I had custody of my two children. I was a single parent raising two young children and they came first. Their needs came first. That was the most difficult job I've ever had in my life, but it was also extraordinarily rewarding. Raising two kids with two parents is a challenge, much less one, because you have to be both dad and mom. You've got to have the maternal side and the more stereotypical father role. I think I yielded more to the maternal because I felt like my kids needed that, because they didn't have it. Even before I declared my candidacy, I spoke with both my children - my boys, they're not children anymore - and told them what it would entail, made it clear that I was the one running for office, they could be as involved or not be as involved as they wanted to be. They both said, "Go for it," but my older son threw in the caveat, "Dad, please don't ever forget the little guy."

AB: Your sexuality is not the cornerstone of your campaign, but I want to talk a little about Chuck Schumer and how things went down with your campaign announcement and what could be perceived as the cold shoulder from your Democratic peers. Do you think that reaction tacitly stressed your sexuality?

JN: Not necessarily. There was a good deal of concern - not necessarily expressed, but certainly there were folks who were part of the status quo political system that found my candidacy threatening. They felt that a gay person on the ballot would draw out social conservatives to vote against me and therefore to vote for the other candidate on the ballot. My view of that - I didn't foresee that. It didn't even cross my mind. Chalk it up to political naivete, but it didn't cross my mind because I think it's silly. It's analogous to the so-called conventional wisdom that said a black person could never be elected or a woman, much less a Roman Catholic to the White House. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

Apparently New York City's looking for even more homos. The Big Apple just launched a $30 million queer tourism campaign, starting with Out magazine's recent Out 100 issue.

Ads will also start appearing soon on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender websites. The city says the demographic is key to the city's tourism because it contains people who have a high level of discretionary income and an interest in travel.

Similar campaigns have worked in Philadelphia, Chicago and Phoenix. The move is another step in the city's efforts to meet the mayor's goal of bringing in 50 million tourists by the year 2015.

Mayor Bloomberg obviously doesn't care about the mental health of this city's resident, who have to fight through throngs of gawking shutterbugs on a daily basis. Thanks, Bloomie!

But, on the positive side, there'll be more imported cock for those of you who have sucked up our supply. You know who you are…

Pundits have been pondering what will become of Pat Robertson now that he's endorsed abortion-allowing, gay loving Rudy Giuliani.

They got at least part of answer today after anti-abortion activist and Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry took aim at Robertson - among others.

Note his clever take on NYC's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

CONTINUED »

• M.I.A. and New Now Next's John Polly gab on the gays, being famous and her new track, "Boyz".

• If NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg isn't running for president, what's with Mike2008.com?

• How did former Men's Fitness editor Neal Boulton boot Genre's Chris Ciompi? He called David Unger and asked for the job.

• To-do on August 4th: stop homophobia in Poland.

CONTINUED »

Gay pride loving non-profit Heritage of Pride isn't feeling so gay after Mayor Michael Bloomberg killed their dreams of moving their annual event to Chelsea. For fifteen years, HOP has produced a fag-flavored fair to coincide with New York City's gay pride. For years, participants have gathered on Greenwich Street to distribute information, condoms and good will. Unfortunately, Greenwich Street isn't the most accessible of Manhattan's many streets. Nor is it the most well maintained - potholes pock the narrow street.

For this reason, HOP officials filed a request to move the event to Manhattan's gay ghetto, Chelsea. The group enlisted over sixty neighborhood businesses, non-profits and the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce to support the move. Despite this backing - not to mention the Community Board's unanimous support - the mayor's office refuses to endorse the relocation. Nor do they recognize Heritage of Pride's proud heritage of producing the event.

The group will hold a meeting tomorrow at the LGBT center to discuss the event's future. With no permit, however, it looks like it may be the end of the road for Heritage of Pride.

For more information on Heritage of Pride, check out their website.

Yesterday was showdown time at New York State's Court of Appeals, where same-sex couples fighting for their right to marry squared off with defenders of the current law, including State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The justices spent two and a half hours hearing arguments over whether the law should be changed to grant gay men and women to right to marry, simply by changing the gender-specific language of the law.

While the plaintiffs argued the current law made them second-class citizens (and that even civil unions make them such), the defendants made the incredulous argument that since only 1.3 percent – "a very small number" – of New York State households are same-sex arrangements, it just didn't make sense to up and change the law for them. The latter also made the case that if the definition of marriage should change in social contexts, then it should be up to the legislature to make that change (NB: this is Bloomberg's position specifically).

Working against our team is the Appellate Court's prior decision that marriage served the purpose of "the begetting of offspring" and not to legally display the committment between two loving people. But it sounds like we do have some allies on the bench.

After first citing traditional views of marriage, Judge Smith then asked whether the time was ripe for the courts to approve same-sex marriage. Judge Smith also wondered whether the issue of same-sex marriage deserved special attention because of the history of discrimination against gay people.

"Aren't homosexuals about the classic example of people who have been abused and discriminated against," and who therefore need the protection of the courts? he asked.

The court's decision is forthcoming.

Highest Court in New York Confronts Gay Marriage [NYT]
Related: All Gay Marriage coverage

Tomorrow is a big day for gay couples in New York. At 2pm, the Court of Appeals will hear four cases regarding same-sex marriage, which could finally settle the matter throughout the state (though, certainly, many predict legislators will have the final say).

The couples, represented by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, will face off against New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, the Democrat vying for the governorship. What's a little perplexing is how Bloomberg, who just announced his support for blocking the anti-gay marriage constitutional ammendment, can still logically back the "no gay marriage" position he's long maintained.

Messrs. Bloomberg and Spitzer both say they will support changing the law if the court sides with them.

"The city cannot go and issue licenses when this is all up in the air," Mr. Bloomberg told reporters before marching in a Memorial Day parade in Queens yesterday.

"If the courts decide that gay marriage is permitted, as the chief of the city, I will direct our city clerk to issue licenses," Mr. Bloomberg said. He said that even if that happens, he will stick to his pledge of not personally officiating at marriages of anyone other than former mayors and his own children.

Fine by us — we'd rather not have an old stiff dampening our soirees, anyhow.

Final Hearing Set Over Gay Rites in New York State [NY Sun]

Today's New York Times has a funny little quip about New York Mayor Bloomberg's new honorary title.

Well Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg picked up a new title yesterday, "Honorary Lesbian." The former City Councilwoman Margarita López, left, a lesbian, bestowed the honor on him yesterday while expressing gratitude for a deal in which the city sold several buildings in her old district to a consortium of East Village arts groups for $1 each. Mr. Bloomberg did not seem to glory in the new title. After Ms. Lopez announced, "I'm making him an honorary lesbian," he told the crowd, "Let the record show that the mayor moved right along after that."

We can only imagine what comes along with that title. Our guesses: The Indigos Girls' entire catalog, a guest spot on the L Word, and bad hair. Scratch the bad hair, he's already got that covered.

Metro Briefing [New York Times]

• Richard Gere and a gerbil? Keanu and Geffen? Bowie and Mick? Check out these gay urban legends debunked. [Gay.com]

• The Gays in NYC have something to scream about: Liza Minnelli is set to perform at Bloomberg’s inauguration. Brian Ellner must be thrilled. [ABC News]

• The gay community lost several prominent players this year. Gay.com remembers, but leaves out Luther Vandross too. [Gay.com]

• Clay Aiken’s boyfriend is a singer/dancer/hairstylist. We can’t fought him. We love men with multiple talents too. [Perez Hilton]

• Out lists the gay folks they’d like to play Survivor with. Yes, it’s as inane as it sounds! [Out]

“Fags Die, God Laughs.” Such were the placards held by protestors from the Old Paths church in Indiana when they marched in fatuous and hateful protest recently, burning a rainbow flag in front of a gay-owned business in Bloomington. The depth and severity of anti-gay prejudice in America makes clear why gay people should not settle for the wishy-washy half-commitment to our rights exhibited by a politician like Michael Bloomberg.

The protestors brought along children singing hymns, as if inculcating faith-based hatred in young people were psychologically sound. The leader of the appropriately-named Old Paths church group, John Lewis said: “The elite city of Bloomington harbors an elitist, faggot business called The Inner Chef which openly and unabashedly claim they are against god almighty.” Again, wishy-washy half-commitments to our rights are not good enough, Mr. Bloomberg.

In case John Lewis is reading this now, please know sir, that Queerty is not against god almighty. We actually had a chat with him last night and he gave us some excellent fashion pointers. So thanks to god, today we have a beautiful new pair of Ferragamo loafers.

The Alaska Supreme Court has just gone where New York City’s mayor Mike Bloomberg hasn’t had the cojones to go; it approved benefits for same-sex partners of government employees. Should you move to Anchorage? A look at the home page of that city’s PFLAG organization does show it recommending the book Two Teenagers in Twenty.

Because the Alaska court decision affects the entire state, gay residents of Clam Gulch will now enjoy civil rights greater than those that apply to homos on Eighth and Twentieth in the heart of Chelsea. Meanwhile, the non-profit group Advocates for Children carried out a study to see whether GLBT public school students are subject to harassment. Hold your breath; we’re not going to tell you right away whether they found that young queers get harassed at school.

We will remind you that Bloomberg vetoed the Dignity for All Students act. Could it be time to veto Bloomberg? That report did find that, amid much additional anti-GLBT harassment in the city’s schools, a boy threw and ignited a gasoline-soaked ball of newspapers at a girl whom he thought a lesbian. If you happen to be eligible to vote in New York and need a reminder of why you should vote for the candidate who most strongly endorses gay rights, spend time looking around godhatesfags.com.

• Proving that gay voters are not one-issue voters, Brian Ellner jumps on board Bloomberg’s reelection campaign. You know, because Bloomberg so has our backs.

• A pink Madonna iPod Nano? God does listen to our prayers! Via Jordy.

• In a ruling that could affect gay families, the Ohio Supreme Court recognizes children’s rights and “definitions of family that go beyond mom, dad and kids."

• Because having your face in the gay newspaper will surely keep you on the DL. Thanks Daniel.

• Varla Jean Merman is playing Trannyshack tonight in San Francisco. Although we are confused as to how she fits into the theme: “an intimate evening of Satan worship and Rock and Roll.”